2008

2012

Strategic funding secured and technology partnerships established with Cypress Semiconductor, Intel, and Qualcomm. Development of a low-cost, high-volume production process begins, using the SunPower model for solar panels.

2014

Enovix moves into its 70,000 square-foot headquarters in Fremont, CA, with a wafer fabrication facility, and begins pilot production of 3D silicon lithium-ion batteries for mobile products, with an initial emphasis on wearable devices.

STRATEGIC PARTNERS

Cypress Semiconductor (NASDAQ: CY) is a strategic technology partner of Enovix. Its engineers work onsite with us to apply a low cost photovoltaic wafer manufacturing process for high-volume, affordable battery production. SunPower, a former subsidiary of Cypress, initially pioneered the process for the production of solar cells. We are able to leverage substantial investments previously made in supply chains, equipment technology, and process knowledge for our own battery production.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) is the world’s leading producer of advanced semiconductors and the largest global developer of sophisticated platforms for microelectronic production. Its engineers have worked closely with us to employ a modern hi-tech process for fabricating its 3D silicon lithium-ion battery. These are critical skills that would be extremely difficult for a startup to acquire in a timely manner without a partnership of this magnitude.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) is a leader in the design and production of chipsets for global wireless telecommunications and the leading patent holder in advanced 3G mobile technologies, including HSPA. It is also an early pioneer in mobile wearables with its Toq smart watch, released in December 2013 as a concept watch to showcase several of its mobile technologies, which have been incorporated into over a dozen smart watches. Qualcomm provides us with a conduit into the mobile market and intelligence on global standards for mobile chipsets and devices.

Cypress, Intel, and Qualcomm are domain leaders in advanced solar cells, semiconductors, and mobile technologies, respectively. We are the only startup with engineers from domain experts working together on a full-time basis to bring a new, advanced battery to market.

With our partners, we have built a modern photolithography and wafer production platform. This same approach has transformed computers from vacuum tubes to ICs, lighting from incandescent bulbs to LEDs, and television and video displays from CRTs to LCDs.

Through our partnership with Cypress, we are following a similar business model to that used by SunPower in the solar panel market. It incorporates ownership of intellectual property and direct control of production to create and sustain long-term enterprise value.

3501 W WARREN AVE, FREMONT, CA 94538, USA

HARROLD RUST

CEO & CO-FOUNDER

Harrold Rust has been the chief executive officer of Enovix since co-founding the company in 2007. He leads the development and execution of an innovative battery business model with new approaches to technology, design, and production. Under his leadership, Enovix has secured over $100 million in funding, largely through strategic investments from industry leading technology partners Cypress Semiconductor, Intel, and Qualcomm.

Prior to Enovix, Harrold was vice president of operations at FormFactor, a leader in the design and production of patented 3D MEMS contact technology for semiconductor wafer testing. During his 5-year tenure, he led operations from research and development through pilot production to high-volume manufacturing. This helped set the stage for a successful IPO in 2003 and contributed to a 4x increase in annual revenue, from $79M in 2002 to $369M in 2006.

Before FormFactor, Harrold spent 17 years in operations management at IBM’s thin-film disk-drive head facility in San Jose, CA. He led an organization of 250 engineering and manufacturing personnel to meet increasing production goals while reducing costs by 50%. He also assumed business planning responsibility for IBM’s global disk-drive head operations in Asia, Central America, and Europe. Harrold earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from U.C. Davis and an M.S. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.

ASHOK LAHIRI

CTO & CO-FOUNDER

Ashok Lahiri has been the chief technology officer of Enovix since co-founding the company in 2007. He is lead architect of the Enovix orthogonal approach to improving multiple aspects of battery materials, design, production, and packaging, and he manages the associated IP portfolio.

From 2003 to 2007, Ashok was senior director of engineering at FormFactor, a leader in the design and production of patented 3D MEMS contact technology for semiconductor wafer testing. At FormFactor, he led an engineering organization that increased the yield of complex 3D electromechanical devices on silicon substrates from low single-digits to over 90%, while scaling to large arrays capable of massively parallel wafer testing. This contributed to a successful IPO and a 370% increase in revenue during his tenure.

Over a 20-year period, from 1983 to 2003, Ashok advanced through roles of increasing engineering and management responsibility in the IBM hard disk-drive division. He led research groups developing precision ceramic machining— including novel techniques for thin-film heads to nanometer accuracy, he led process development and introduction of the first giant magneto-resistive (GMR) head—which doubled the storage density of previous products, and, ultimately, he managed the new product and technology transfer organizations for thin-film disk drive heads. Ashok earned a B.S. with honors in chemical engineering from U.C. Berkeley. He has authored or co-authored over 20 patents or applications in battery technology, 3D architecture, and electrochemistry.

CAMERON DALES

VP, OPERATIONS & BD

Cameron (Cam) Dales has been vice president of operations since joining Enovix in 2009, and he assumed the vice president of business development role in 2013. He is responsible for Enovix 3D silicon lithium-ion battery operations—specifically a strategy for low-cost high-volume manufacturing, for business development—including strategic technology partners and early-access customers, and for marketing.

Before joining Enovix, Cam was vice president and general manager of Symyx Technologies (NASDAQ: SMMX)—now privately held Freeslate Technologies—an innovator in high-throughput, microscale robotic instruments for the discovery and processing of advanced materials. He helped secure and manage long-term partnerships worth nearly $500M with leading global energy (ExxonMobil), chemical (Dow), and consumer products (P&G) corporations, and he led the growth of a new robotic systems business unit from conception to $40M annual revenue with 20% operating profit. He started his career at Lockheed Space Systems, where he designed and spaceflight qualified several electromechanical systems that are still operating in low earth orbit today.

Cam holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Cornell University and an M.S. in aero/astro engineering from Stanford University. He is a named inventor on over 20 U.S. and international patents for automated materials process.

CHRIS SPINDT

VP, R&D

Chris Spindt has been vice president of research and development since joining Enovix in 2011. He is responsible for research and development of the Enovix 3D silicon lithium-ion battery.

Chris has over 20 years of multidisciplinary technology and integration experience in MEMS, photovoltaics, and displays ranging from early-stage research and development to high-volume manufacturing. He served as VP of R&D for a thin-film solar cell producer from 2007 to 2009 and as SVP of R&D from 2009 to 2011, where he was responsible for device physics, process development and integration, test, characterization, and third-party acceptance. Before that, he was vice president of research and development at Reflectivity, from 2002 to 2006, where he led a team that qualified an extended graphics array (XGA) MEMS micro-mirror chip for an InFocus projector. Reflectivity was acquired by Texas Instruments (TI) in 2006.

Chris started his career in 1991 at Silicon Video Corporation, developing 3 mm thick high-definition cathode ray displays. Over the next 8 years, he advanced to chief technology officer (CTO) and vice president of technology development operations, leading 300 people in the fabrication and assembly of major components, including the integration of thick film, ceramic, microfabrication/thin film, and electromechanical processing.

Chris earned a B.S. in physics from U.C. Berkeley and a Ph. D. in applied physics from Stanford University. He has authored or co-authored over 60 patents or patent applications.

CHUCK STONE

VP, MANUFACTURING ENG

Chuck Stone has been vice president of manufacturing engineering since joining Enovix in 2016. He is responsible for scaling production of the Enovix 3D Silicon Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery for commercialization.

Prior to joining Enovix, Chuck was vice president of manufacturing engineering at SunPower. During his 12 years with SunPower, he led the transfer of a prototype solar cell from research and development to high-volume, low-cost production. He oversaw process and equipment engineering teams that ramped production of three SunPower fabrication facilities, with a combined capacity of more than 1-million solar cells per day. A key component of the high-volume ramp was reducing the cost of SunPower’s world-record, high-efficiency solar cell by a factor of 10 through advanced equipment and process design, lean supply-chain management and improved factory performance.

Prior to joining SunPower, Chuck held the position of senior engineering manager at Cypress Semiconductor. He worked 17 years at Cypress in semiconductor process, device and integration engineering, leading products from research and development to high-volume production. Previously, Chuck was director of manufacturing at EM Microelectronics in Neuchatel, Switzerland, and he held engineering positions with three other semiconductor companies—Silicon Light Machines, National Semiconductor and Mostek.

Chuck studied materials science and engineering at the University of Utah and physics at the University of Texas.